Ciudad Juarez, Mexico seemed like the victim of American media hype from the minute I crossed over the US border from El Paso, Texas on Saturday morning. Yes, there were the run-down stores, the empty or closed restaurants and soldiers patrolling the streets, armed with heavy weaponry. But after reading the statistics many outlets claim about the city -- from the total number of murders to the amount of people who have lost their jobs recently -- it was not as bad as I expected it to be.

Unfortunately, because of something I witnessed as I finished a day of field research and exploration, it's now clear to me that the debacle unraveling only feet from our border may actually be worse than what the shock jocks and big media are selling at home.

I'm a sports diplomat. You're a what? Basically, I think -- well, I know -- that sports can more directly and positively aid in settling wars, erasing hate, diminishing violence and rescuing youth than other tried and failed methods can. I chose the Mexican border town as my newest project after tackling Northern Ireland and other places of conflict and strife. And I was in Juarez trying to figure out the programming of my nonprofit organization, Full Court Peace, to help the city's vulnerable youth.

Let me start at the end, with me crossing the border back into El Paso on Saturday around 4:30pm.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman